EU moves to ban single-use plastics

The moves have been welcomed by Minister for Environment, Denis Naughten who said it envisages a range of measures available to European Union member states to tackle single-use plastic items.

Research shows there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the world's oceans by 2050, which has spurred policy makers, individuals and companies into action. "By reducing the amount of unnecessary plastic we produce, we can make a real difference to the global marine litter crisis", Oceana Europe executive director Lasse Gustavsson said in a statement.

Alongside the proposed bans, the proposed European Directive will contain requirements for EU member states to reduce their consumption of single-use food containers and beverage cups, the latter being a growing issue in the United Kingdom, where only 0.25 per cent of all coffee cup waste is recycled each year.

We are talking about disposable tableware, Cutlery, straws-straws for beverages and plastic attachments for balloons.

Malta could be set to miss out on some €179 million in EU cohesion funds, according to a plans unveiled by the European Commission on Tuesday.

The European Commission proposed on Monday to ban the use of plastic in the production of cotton buds, cutlery, plates, straws, drink stirrers and sticks for balloons.

Producers of fishing gear - which accounts for 27 percent of beach litter - will be required to cover the costs of waste collection in ports. The Commission hopes that raising awareness in the fishing industry will help anglers and trawlers recover their equipment once it reaches the end of its life-cycle. Also in multiple data that warn of consequences of not acting. The conclusion was that 84% of waste found was plastic. We produce almost 300 million tons of plastic waste each year - and an estimated 8 million tons of that ends up in the oceans. Getting an idea of your volume is complicated. "Single use plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental catastrophes of this generation". Among or issues, by growth of its projected volume for coming decades. There is an estimated 150m tonnes of plastic in the world's oceans. The reuse rate is bad compared to other materials, 58 percent of paper and up to 90 percent of iron and steel gets recycled.

According to First Vice-President Frans Timmermans, responsible for sustainable development, "This Commission promised to be big on the big issues and leave the rest to Member States".